By David Wellington

Orbit, out now

Sally Jansen believes her career as an astronaut is over after a disastrous mission – but when an object heads for Earth, an urgent mission is scrambled… and NASA once more needs her help.

David Wellington’s novel is a fascinating near-future SF novel that makes multiple sharp turns as it goes along, making it a terrific experience for the reader – and an absolute pain for anyone wanting to review it without giving too much away. It’s told in an unusual way: it presents as if it’s an “updated” version of an account of the mission to 2I, with the original author given a lot more detail than he originally had. This leads to a few disconnects along the way, none of them major speedbumps, but that could perhaps have been smoothed a little more along the way.

Its depiction of gender politics in space exploration makes an interesting contrast with Mary Robinette Kowal’s Lady Astronaut series (an alternate history of NASA, for those who’ve not yet caught up with that – find The Calculating Stars; you won’t regret it), and some of the characterisation is a little thin. However, once Jansen and her colleagues are within 2I, Wellington provides a blend of Rendezvous with Rama and the exploration on LV-426 (as well as Star Trek: The Motion Picture) that will keep you reading.

Verdict: An enjoyable SF tale but one that never quite gels as much as you feel it should. 7/10

Paul Simpson